Denmark's Soren Torpegaard Lund to 'stay true' at Eurovision

(The Center Square) – The Pentagon is asking Congress for more than $21 billion for military barracks in its fiscal year 2027 budget request, the largest such investment in recent years, but the government's top watchdog says the deferred maintenance backlog has more than doubled since 2020 and important recommendations from its last barracks review remain unfinished.

The $1.5 trillion military budget request includes $8.8 billion for repairs such as HVAC fixes, mold remediation and electrical and plumbing updates; $10.2 billion for new barracks construction; and $2.5 billion for preventive maintenance. It is part of a broader $57.2 billion request for facility sustainment, restoration and modernization across the Department of War.

"The investments in this budget will fix all substandard barracks and eliminate barracks that have been deemed poor or failing," Lt. Gen. Steven Whitney said at a Pentagon budget briefing.

The request comes after a scathing September 2023 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office detailed sewage backups, rodent infestations, mold, inoperable fire systems and broken heating and air conditioning systems at barracks where troops are required to live. The report found those conditions undermined military readiness and quality of life. It also found the Department of Defense had not fully funded its facilities program for years, resulting in a backlog of at least $137 billion in deferred maintenance costs as of fiscal year 2020.

That backlog has since grown to an estimated $280 billion for all Defense Department facilities as of fiscal year 2025, Rashmi Agarwal, a director with GAO's Defense Capabilities and Management team, told The Center Square. The GAO plans to issue a report this summer on infrastructure maintenance across all military bases.

Conditions were so bad in some places that service members sometimes took "drastic action, such as getting married, just to leave the barracks," according to the GAO report.

Undersecretary of Defense Comptroller Jules "Jay" Hurst III said that condition scores were used to determine how much money was needed to fix those barracks.

"We have a list of barracks that are in poor or failing condition and we created a building condition index," he said at the April 21 budget briefing. "And I think if you're below 80 on that index, you're considered poor or failing. So, we went through and calculated how much money we'd have to invest to remediate every single barracks that's in that condition. We're going to remediate all the barracks that are poor or substandard."

However, in a statement to The Center Square, a senior defense official said the Barracks Task Force wall-to-wall assessments were not traditional condition assessments – they were an urgent triage operation to identify and correct acute health and safety issues – and did not produce a total count of poor or failing buildings. It was not immediately clear whether Hurst was referring to a separate, pre-existing list or the BTF assessments.

That distinction matters because one of the central problems identified in the 2023 GAO report was that condition scores for buildings were inaccurate. The report noted that military services calculate a condition score from 0 to 100, but those scores didn't always match actual conditions. One barracks had been closed as uninhabitable due to long-standing plumbing and electrical issues while carrying a condition score above 90.

The Pentagon said it has since overhauled its approach. In April 2025, the department published Unaccompanied Housing Habitability Standards, which established pass-fail criteria for living spaces – including zero visible mold and functional HVAC systems – designed to flag uninhabitable rooms regardless of a building's overall condition score. The department also said it is replacing collateral-duty service members with permanent civilian barracks managers at each installation to ensure more consistent oversight, and mandating in-person inspections of all permanent party barracks every two years.

"The Department does not need to choose between 'find and fix' and systemic changes; it is aggressively doing both," the senior defense official told The Center Square. "We actively carried out the Secretary's directive to immediately find and fix acute issues. The BTF has impacted thousands of warriors, with over $800 million obligated to rapidly improve living conditions across the force."

Agarwal said important recommendations from the 2023 report remain open.

"While DOD has taken steps to address many recommendations, important recommendations remain open and we will continue to track the actions the department is taking," she said.

A separate GAO report issued in February 2026 on the Pentagon's 12 joint bases found the department still needs to assess the risks to missions posed by not meeting its funding goals for infrastructure maintenance.

The problems were not new. The GAO raised nearly identical concerns in a June 2002 report on recruit training barracks, documenting inadequate heating and air conditioning, mold and plumbing failures across all 10 basic training locations. That report found the same root cause: Army officials told investigators that maintenance funding shortfalls were driven by "the migration of funding from maintenance accounts to support other priorities." The condition scoring problem was present then too – GAO inspectors found that Parris Island barracks rated near the top of the condition scale were actually among the worst they observed.

During a 2023 Congressional hearing on the more recent report, Elizabeth Field, then-director of Defense Capabilities and Management for the GAO, told lawmakers the pattern had persisted across decades. Ten years before that hearing, she said, the Pentagon had praised its progress modernizing barracks with increased funding and promised to maintain them.

"Obviously, that didn't happen," Field testified. "It will take years to reverse the chronic neglect and underfunding we uncovered."

She said the problem was not a lack of Congressional funding, but how the Pentagon chose to spend it.

"The department tends to only fund about 80% of sustainment needs and the facilities that most often lose out are things like barracks," she said.

U.S> Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a retired Air Force brigadier general who chaired the House Armed Services Committee's Military Quality-of-Life Panel in the 118th Congress, said the pattern of neglect has a clear cause.

"The barracks budget has been looted for many years for other priorities," he told The Center Square.

Since the 2023 report, the Pentagon has made a series of pledges to improve conditions. The fiscal year 2025 budget included $1.1 billion for barracks construction. The fiscal year 2026 budget requested $7.2 billion for barracks, including $1.2 billion for new construction and $6 billion for facility sustainment. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced a $1.2 billion barracks task force investment in December 2025, with $400 million for immediate repairs and $800 million for critical renovations. The Pentagon said Wednesday that more than $800 million of that has been obligated so far.

"The Department is actioning a comprehensive, data-driven plan to permanently address barracks quality, with the FY27 budget providing the resources required to restore existing barracks and construct new buildings where necessary," the defense official said. "Ultimately, this combination of rapid remediation and systematic oversight ensures our Warriors can focus entirely on their mission, not real estate management."

The GAO said Congress has continued to place significant focus on improving barracks conditions through legislation and hearings, and that it will continue to support that oversight work. A new GAO report on infrastructure maintenance across all military bases is expected this summer.

(The Center Square) – Six to nine hurricanes have been forecast in the Atlantic Basin hurricane season from June 1 to Nov. 30 by the two leading authorities.

At N.C. State University, the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences teamed with the Department of Computer Science projected six to nine from 12 to 15 named storms, with two to three deemed major. At Colorado State University, the Department of Atmospheric Science predicts six hurricanes from 13 named storms, with two likely major.

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season was remarkable as the first since 2015 with none making landfall. Erin in August brought significant coastal damage along the East Coast, and Tropical Storm Chantal was the lone system making landfall when it damaged the Carolinas in July.

Erin, Gabrielle, Humberto and Melissa were major hurricanes, and Imelda was the fifth hurricane of the season. Thirteen storms earned names.

Dr. Lian Xie, professor at N.C. State, predicts two to five named storms forming in the gulf and one or two of them becoming a hurricane with one major. The Caribbean Sea is predicted to be the origin for one to two hurricanes, of which one would be major.

Xie said he uses more than 100 years of historical data on the Atlantic Ocean, weather patterns and sea-surface temperatures to arrive at his forecast.

At Colorado State, the summary forecast says in part, “We anticipate that the 2026 Atlantic basin hurricane season will have somewhat below-normal activity. Current weak La Niña conditions are likely to transition to El Niño in the next few months, with the potential for a moderate/strong El Niño for the peak of hurricane season.”

Hurricanes are generally described using the wind scale known as Saffir-Simpson. It doesn’t take into account storm surge or rainfall, two factors that contribute heavily to death totals and property damage estimates.

The scale is Category 1 for maximum sustained winds of 74-95 mph; Category 2 for maximum sustained winds of 96-110 mph; Category 3 for maximum sustained winds of 111-129 mph; Category 4 for maximum sustained winds of 130-156 mph; and Category 5 for maximum sustained winds of 157 mph or greater.

Categories 3, 4 and 5 are deemed major.

The National Weather Center earlier released names to be used this year as maintained and updated through a strict procedure by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. They will be Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Leah, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.

The list rotates and is recycled every six years, sans a change because of retirement of a name due to storm fatalities or cost. These names are next up in 2032.

Diego Maradona's entourage and medical team had a plan for the Argentine football star but things "went out of control" in the lead-up to his death, his daughter Gianinna said in an interview this week.

Maradona, regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, died in November 2020 at the age of 60 of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema -- a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs -- while recovering at home from surgery for a brain clot.

"There was definitely a plan and someone was in charge of it, but things got out of their control," Gianinna, 36, told news outlets including AFP.

She spoke on the sidelines of the trial in San Isidro of seven medical workers -- including a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist and a nurse -- whom prosecutors accuse of gross negligence over Maradona's death.

The seven deny responsibility and say the star of the 1986 World Cup died of natural causes. They face prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted.

Gianinna blamed Maradona's former lawyer and representative Matias Morla and his former assistant Maximiliano Pomargo.

The pair are not among the accused in the negligence case, but will stand trial for alleged fraudulent management of Maradona's brands. The trial date has yet to be announced.

"I can't quite bring myself to think through this plan, that they wanted to kill him. Did Morla want to have my father's life in his hands? Surely," Gianinna said.

- 'Power' over Maradona -

Gianinna said some of the defendants convinced the family in November 2020 that Maradona could only recover from neurosurgery at home, instead of being admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

The clinic could have treated the football star's addictions but, if Maradona refused to be admitted, he would likely have been placed under a judge's guardianship.

"It didn't suit them for my father to be hospitalized in psychiatry, because a whole lot of things would have collapsed for Morla," Gianinna said.

She said Maradona had given Morla power of attorney in the commercial use of his name.

"He was the one who had the signature, who could sign as if he were my dad," she said.

"He had the power of having Maradona (under his control) and did whatever he wanted with that power," Gianinna said, adding that those in his closest circle were "always thinking about the money side of things, not about dad's health."

Gianinna testified at the trial last month and denounced Maradona's "total manipulation."

Prosecutors said the footballer was kept in a house in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre without appropriate medical equipment and sanitation, and that carers committed "all kinds of omissions" that resulted in "cruel" conditions.

Gianinna said she believed the seven defendants were "all responsible, some to a greater degree than others." She singled out Maradona's then-personal physician Leopoldo Luque as the "main voice" who managed his team.

However, she said each defendant bore personal responsibility.

"The nurse who was supposed to check on him before leaving didn't check on him, and the nurse who arrived didn't check on him either," she said.

- 'They were afraid' -

Expert reports say that Maradona died after several hours of agony, alone on the bed in the house rented for his recovery.

Gianinna said that the medical team members "all had a common line and they all followed it."

She said Pomargo, Maradona's former right-hand man and Morla's brother-in-law, was "the one who was pulling the strings a bit."

When Maradona's condition worsened, the carers "were afraid, because in the audio messages (used in the trial), you hear things like: 'I'm covering myself legally,'" Gianinna said.

"They never imagined that the prosecutor's office would act quickly, seize their phones, raid their homes," she said.

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Saudi Arabia, Russia and five other OPEC+ countries increased their oil production quota on Sunday in an expected move aimed at demonstrating continuity at the cartel after the shock withdrawal of the United Arab Emirates.

The seven major producers will add 188,000 barrels per day to their total production quota for June amid the price pressure unleashed by the Mideast war, as part of "their collective commitment to support oil market stability", according to a statement published by OPEC+. 

The statement, following an online meeting of Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman, Russia and Saudi Arabia, made no mention of the United Arab Emirates, which quit the body on Friday, three days after announcing its withdrawal. 

Rystad Energy analyst Jorge Leon told AFP that the silence on the UAE's departure was a sign of tense relations.

Oil market analysts had widely expected the increase of 188,000 barrels, similar to the 206,000-barrel daily increases OPEC+ announced in both March and April when the portion allotted to the UAE was subtracted.

"By sticking to the same production path -- just minus the UAE -- it's acting as if nothing has happened, deliberately downplaying internal fractures and projecting stability," Leon said.

- Strait of Hormuz bottleneck remains -

But raising the quota on paper may not have much impact on actual production, which is already short of the limit.

Untapped OPEC+ reserves are mainly located in the Gulf region, and exports there are trapped by the blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz, imposed by Iran in response to the US-Israeli strikes that started the war on February 28.

Leon, the Rystad Energy analyst, told AFP on Sunday that the cartel was looking to send "a two-layer message" that the UAE's exit would not disrupt how OPEC+ operates and that the group still exerts control over global oil markets despite massive disruption to oil trade due to the war.

"While output is increasing on paper, the real impact on physical supply remains very limited given the Strait of Hormuz constraints," Leon told AFP. "This is less about adding barrels and more about signalling that OPEC+ still calls the shots."

The Strait of Hormuz blockade is hitting Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The latter's production will no longer count towards OPEC quotas.

"Total OPEC+ output with quota fell to 27.68 million bpd in March, against a monthly quota of 36.73 million bpd, a shortfall of approximately 9 million bpd driven almost entirely by war-related disruption rather than voluntary restraint," said Priya Walia, another analyst at Rystad Energy, ahead of Sunday's meeting.

Iran, whose exports are now the target of a retaliatory US blockade, is an OPEC+ member but is not subject to quotas.

Russia, the group's second-biggest producer, has been the main beneficiary of the situation. But despite soaring energy prices, it appears to be struggling to produce at the level of its current quotas as its own war in Ukraine drags on and Ukrainian drones hit oil industry facilities.

- 'A big deal' -

Amena Bakr, an analyst at Kpler, described the UAE's exist as "a big deal" for OPEC.

Previous withdrawals from the group by Qatar in 2019 and Angola in 2023 were less significant by comparison, Bakr told a video conference on the UAE withdrawal.

The UAE has invested massively in infrastructure in recent years, and state-owned oil company ADNOC plans to increase output by five million barrels a day by 2027 -- far above the country's last quota of around 3.5 million barrels.

ADNOC also pledged on Sunday to spend $55 billion on new projects over the next two years, confirming that the company is "accelerating growth and delivery of its strategy".

There is also the risk for OPEC+ that other countries will leave such as Iraq and Kazakhstan, which have faced repeated accusations of surpassing their quotas.

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Two young Sudanese women appear to have suffocated to death on Sunday while trying to reach Britain from northern France in a small boat crammed with more than 80 people including pregnant women and children, officials said.

This was the third such tragedy in just over a month.

The women, aged around 20, were aboard a small boat carrying 82 people that set out to sea south of the town of Neufchatel-Hardelot, Christophe Marx, a local government official, told reporters. Officials believe the two victims are of Sudanese origin.

Separately, Utopia 56, a migrant aid association, described the two victims as a 16-year-old child and a 20-year-old woman. One other victim - a pregnant woman -- was in critical condition, the group said. 

"We can't see the end of this story. No one has the real solutions. And it's tragic," Paulette Juilien-Peuvion, the mayor of Neufchatel-Hardelot, told AFP.

She said she was sad to see "these young people trying to flee."

"There were notably pregnant mothers among them. I heard about a pregnant mother who also had another child with her," she said.

The boat set out to sea south of Neufchatel-Hardelot, about 12 kilometres (seven miles) south of Boulogne-sur-Mer, during the night from Saturday to Sunday.

But "the engine wouldn't start" and the boat began to drift, Marx said.

Seventeen people were rescued at sea and taken to Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The boat with the remaining 65 people on board eventually ran aground on a beach near Neufchatel-Hardelot, he said, adding that the two women had been found "dead inside the boat".

"They did not drown," he said, indicating that the two most likely died from "suffocation, as unfortunately often happens."

The mayor of Neufchatel-Hardelot said the two women suffered cardiac arrest, suggesting that they might have been "crushed at the bottom of the boat when there are so many on board."

'Policies are killing'

Three others suffered chemical burns "due to a mixture of fuel and seawater," the prefecture said.

Fourteen more people had minor injuries and five of them were taken to hospital, officials said, citing the updated figures.

They were "being treated and will be interviewed by border police to determine who is responsible for this crossing", Marx said.

An investigation has been launched.

Utopia 56 said "the repressive" policies of French and British governments were behind the latest tragedy.

"Repressive policies at the Franco-British border are killing," the group said on X. "These lost lives are the result of political choices."

"It is urgent to put an end to this deadly situation: open the borders, establish safe routes for passage, and charter ferries."

On April 1, two migrants died off the coast of Gravelines in northern France while attempting to reach the United Kingdom. 

On April 9, two men and two women died near the village of Equihen-Plage, swept away by the currents.

In 2025, at least 29 migrants died at sea in the region, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.

Last month, Britain and France signed a new three-year deal to stop undocumented migrants making the risky journey across the Channel in small boats.

Under the deal, France pledged to increase law enforcement personnel on the coast by more than half, reaching 1,400 officers by 2029.

According to French officials, the number of arrivals in Britain so far this year has been drastically cut from 2025.

According to British figures, 41,472 people reached the United Kingdom illegally in small boats in 2025, the second-highest figure since large-scale crossings were first detected in 2018.

cor-adr-as/giv

Two young women believed to be of Sudanese origin died Sunday while trying to reach Britain from northern France in a small boat, officials said.

The women, aged about 20, were aboard a small boat carrying 82 people, Christophe Marx, a regional government official, told reporters.

The boat set out to sea during the night from Saturday to Sunday, but "the engine wouldn't start" and the boat began to drift, Marx said.

Seventeen people were rescued at sea and taken to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The boat with the remaining 65 people on board eventually ran aground on a beach near Neufchatel-Hardelot, about 12 kilometres (seven miles) south of Boulogne-sur-Mer, he said, adding that the victims had been found "dead inside the boat".

Thirteen people with moderate injuries and three others with serious wounds, including burn victims, were taken to hospital.

They were "being treated and will be interviewed by border police to determine who is responsible for this crossing", Marx said.

He said an investigation would confirm the nationality of the victims.

This is the third such tragedy in just over a month at the French-British border. 

On April 1, two migrants died off the coast of Gravelines in northern France while attempting to reach the United Kingdom. 

On April 9, two men and two women died, swept away by the currents.

In 2025, at least 29 migrants died at sea in the region, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.

Britain and France last month signed a new three-year deal on security operations to stop the crossings. 

France will increase the number of police and gendarmes patrolling the coast while the British government will increase its contribution to the cost.

According to French officials, the number of arrivals in Britain so far this year has been drastically cut from 2025.

cor-adr-as/sbk

The latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Iran hangs man -

Iran hanged a man convicted of involvement in the killing of a security forces volunteer during anti-government protests, the judiciary said.

"Mehrab Abdollahzadeh's death sentence was carried out this morning after completing the legal formalities," said the judiciary's Mizan Online website.

- Gaza flotilla in court -

Two foreign activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla who were brought to Israel for interrogation appeared before an Israeli court, a rights group defending them told AFP.

Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila were taken to court in the city of Ashkelon, according to Miriam Azem, international advocacy coordinator at the Israeli rights group Adalah.

- Israel's Lebanon warning -

Israel's military issued new evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon for villages beyond the area it occupies, despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The warning covers more than 10 villages and towns, including several in the district of Nabatieh, which lies north of the Litani River. Israel has stationed troops south of the river.

- Iran museum -

Iranian authorities plan to turn a bombsite at a university in central Iran into a museum about the impact of US-Israeli strikes, an official said. 

"The current damaged site will be preserved as a war museum at the university to remain a document of the country's scientific oppression in history," said Zafarollah Kalantari, head of Isfahan University of Technology. 

- Trump says US numbers in Germany to come 'way down' -

US President Donald Trump said the United States would withdraw more troops from Germany than was previously announced by the Pentagon.

"We're going to cut way down, and we're cutting a lot further than 5,000," he told reporters Saturday, without providing details.

Earlier, a NATO spokeswoman said the alliance was seeking more information on the US decision, which came after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Iran was "humiliating" the Trump administration in negotiations.

- Trump casts doubt -

Trump said he would review a new Iranian peace deal but cast doubt over its prospects, as Iranian media reported Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan.

"I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but can't imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Iran's Tasnim and Fars news agencies said Iran had submitted a 14-point proposal. It reportedly includes ending the conflict on all fronts and enacting a new framework for the crucial Strait of Hormuz, according to Tasnim.

- Three killed in Lebanon -

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday killed three people in Sammaiyeh in the Tyre district. 

The Israeli military said it carried out strikes dismantling "approximately 70 military structures and approximately 50 Hezbollah infrastructure sites" across southern Lebanon.

- Israel damages convent -

A Catholic charity condemned what it called the "deliberate act of destruction against a place of worship" after a convent was damaged by Israeli forces in Lebanon. 

The Israeli military confirmed a "religious building" was damaged by troops operating in the village of Yaroun and "houses located in a religious compound" were "damaged" during an operation to "destroy terrorist infrastructure".

French Catholic charity L'Oeuvre d'Orient said troops "destroyed" a convent belonging to the Salvatorian Sisters, a Greek-Catholic religious order the charity is affiliated with.

burs-sbk/tw

Latin pop queen Shakira delighted crowds of two million that packed Rio's famed Copacabana beach under a full moon Saturday, delivering fan-favorite hits and words of love for Brazil.

The 49-year-old Colombian superstar took the stage dressed in Brazil's national colors shortly after 11 pm (0200 GMT), more than an hour behind schedule, heralded by drones overhead forming the image of a she-wolf -- Shakira's nickname.

"Brazil, I love you! It's magical to think that here we are, millions of souls together, ready to sing, dance, be moved and remind the world what really matters," Shakira told the crowd in Portuguese.

"Two million people. The she-wolf made history in Rio," city mayor Eduardo Cavaliere wrote on X, citing the official tourism body.

The beach has hosted the biggest divas in pop in recent years, with Madonna striking a pose for 1.6 million in 2024 and Lady Gaga singing her greatest hits to 2.1 million fans last year.

Shakira on Saturday performed hits such as "Hips Don't Lie," "La Bicicleta," " La Tortura" and "Estoy Aqui" on a huge stage outside the legendary Copacabana Hotel measuring 1,345 square meters (14,500 square feet).

The concert, featuring 10 outfit changes, saw Shakira performing local-style funk with Brazilian pop star Anitta, and featured guests including Brazilian pop music legends Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethania.

- 'She loves Brazil so much' -

With more than 90 million records sold, four Grammys, 15 Latin Grammys and a generation-spanning repertoire including bangers "Hips Don't Lie," "Waka Waka" and "Whenever, Wherever," Shakira enjoys unique popularity in Brazil, where she has performed numerous times.

"I'm very inspired by her, she's a Latin woman at the top," 26-year-old designer Joao Pedro Yellin told AFP, dressed in an overcoat made of scraps representing Latin American flags.

"She loves Brazil so much and the love she has for us is the love we have for her," said superfan Graciele Vaz, who slept on the beach Friday night after traveling four hours from the resort town of Paraty.

"I've been a Shakira fan for more than 20 years," the 43-year-old said, sporting a large she-wolf tattoo on her back.

Shakira's 2025 tour kicked off in Rio and has already earned a Guinness World Record for highest-grossing tour for a Latin artist.

- Rio energized -

Rio has been readying for the concert for days, with huge posters blanketing the city.

Copacabana vendors were busy Saturday hawking beer, caipirinhas, t-shirts and little vials of "Shakira's tears," a nod to her current "Women No Longer Cry" tour.

Security was also tight, with nearly 8,000 officers deployed, along with drones, facial recognition cameras and 18 screening points with metal detectors.

Last year, after Lady Gaga's performance, police said they had foiled a bomb plot by a group that disseminated hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community.

Some Shakira fans camped out in front of the Copacabana Palace, where she was staying, hoping to glimpse her at a window.

City officials estimated the event would inject more than $160 million into the local economy.

National tourism officials said airline bookings were up 80 percent this week compared to 2024.

ll-ffb/vel/hol/ami

Across Bangkok, aromas of garlic, chilli and grilled meat drift from roadside stalls and carts, but tighter controls on vendors threaten livelihoods and the street food culture that defines the Thai capital.

Convenient, full of flavour and popular among locals and tourists alike, Bangkok's street food is one of the city's signatures -- where sizzling woks and smoky charcoal grills turn boulevards and sidewalks into open-air kitchens from morning until late at night.

But many street sellers in the foodie paradise face an uncertain future as the Bangkok government in recent years has moved to clear footpaths, improve order and relocate vendors from curbsides in packed commercial districts to designated market stalls.

"I am worried because we are here illegally," said Looknam Sinwirakit, who was once fined 1,000 baht ($30) for obstructing the street while selling 50-baht fried glutinous rice cakes in the capital's Chinatown.

One of Bangkok's busiest tourist areas, the neighbourhood's steady flow of customers is worth the risk of city fines, Looknam, 45, told AFP.

"Vendors need to earn a living," she said. "It's not fair just to evict us, but if they tell us to (leave) then we have to."

Nearby, durian seller Wong Jaidee, who has sold the strong-smelling fruit for more than two decades, said he also feared being made to move.

"I don't have any backup plan," the 56-year-old said. "Bangkok is a high-priced city and we may not be able to cope."

- Time to move -

Since 2022, the estimated number of mobile vendors in the city has fallen by more than 60 percent, with around 10,000 fewer now on the streets, according to data from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

While dozens have moved to informal markets and hawker centres -- using a model similar to Singapore, where food vendors are grouped in designated locations -- many others have simply closed their business due to the stricter regulations or because they were no longer profitable, said BMA official Kunanop Lertpraiwan.

The municipality has mostly targeted vendors crowding main roads with heavy pedestrian foot traffic, while those on side streets and in areas popular with backpackers and other tourists were allowed more flexibility, Kunanop said.

"We give them time and communicate with them clearly," he said, adding some sellers were given several months to find a new location.

"It's not like we will move them tomorrow."

The city is pushing more vendors to set up shop in one of five hawker centres opened in recent years -- the latest in April beside Bangkok's popular Lumphini Park.

With rows of food stalls and picnic tables, the new hub so far houses around a dozen vendors who previously sold food on nearby streets.

BMA encouraged them to relocate, and they now pay 60 baht a day to rent a hawker stall.

Panissara Piyasomroj, who sold noodles to morning runners in the park since 2004, said moving into the centre meant better conditions, including convenient water and electricity access.

Under a roof to beat the heat, the 59-year-old said her business had been "upgraded" and "looks cleaner".

- 'Part of the culture' -

But for other vendors, the prospect of moving from a familiar setting remains a concern.

Thitisakulthip Sang-uamsap, 67, has sold fried vegetable balls near Chinatown for more than 40 years and worries she could be forced to relocate.

"I live around here... if they ask me to leave, I won't be comfortable," she said, adding she hoped the government would show empathy for older vendors earning little income.

The crowded, bustling sidewalks and the smell of freshly grilled squid and other street treats are for many visitors a key part of Bangkok's charm -- and a cheap, tasty meal on-the-go is worth the hassle of a blocked path.

German tourist Oliver Peter said Thailand has one of the best cuisines in the world, noting his favourite, Pad Thai -- the popular stir-fried rice noodles ubiquitous in Bangkok's streetside woks.

"It would be sad if they go away," he said. "It's part of the culture."

tak/sco/sjc/mtp

As global fuel markets reel from the Middle East war, motorists in Nepal are increasingly turning to electric vehicles, with high demand putting a strain on dealerships.

Electric microbus driver Purushottam Adhikari said he was now shuttling more passengers along the 300-kilometre (186-mile) journey between his town in Chitwan district and the capital Kathmandu.

"My profession is not affected (by the conflict)," said the 48-year-old, who drives his 18-seater Chinese-made e-van along Nepal's highways daily. "In fact, more people are choosing EVs."

Soaring global oil prices and fuel supply disruption since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz have led to long queues at gas stations in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, but Nepal has largely avoided the worst of the crisis.

"One of the main reasons is the increased penetration of electric vehicles on Nepal's roads," alternative energy expert Govind Raj Pokharel told AFP.

The country of 30 million people has an estimated 50,000 EVs, still a small fraction of the total 6.2 million motor vehicles, but a figure officials expect would keep increasing.

The price of petrol in Nepal, which imports all of its gasoline, has nearly doubled since the war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

While transport fares have gone up, Adhikari told AFP that his prices remain unchanged at 700 rupees ($4.60) for a one-way trip in his Joylong A6, which in turn costs $8 for a full recharge.

A full tank for a similar diesel vehicle would have cost "more than $66", he said.

- 'Comfortable and cheap' -

An expanding network of charging stations along major highways has made long-distance electric travel increasingly viable.

Boarding Adhikari's van, 20-year-old Susmita Bishowkarma said she prefers to travel in EVs because they are "environmentally friendly... comfortable and comparatively cheap".

Buoyed by a surge in hydropower generation and a greener electric grid than neighbouring India and Bangladesh, Nepal has emerged as one of the world's fastest adopters of EVs.

The Himalayan nation imported more than 13,500 EVs between mid-2024 and mid-2025 -- double that of petrol vehicles and a sharp rise from just seven a decade ago, government data shows.

Fume-free taxis and cars manufactured in China are a common sight in Kathmandu, with traffic officials estimating that up to 60 percent of microbuses entering the city from key routes are now electric.

Customs department spokesman Kishor Bartaula said the number of EVs would rise further with hundreds awaiting clearance at Nepal's ports.

In line with its clean energy policy, the government is seeking to replace some 10,000 vehicles damaged during anti-corruption protests last year with EVs, finance ministry spokesman Amrit Lamsal told AFP.

- Demand surge -

Concerns that ongoing conflict in the Middle East could prolong global fuel uncertainty are also influencing consumer behaviour.

Shraban Bhattari, 49, who recently bought a BYD Atto-2, said the Chinese-made car is saving him daily fuel expenses.

"I no longer need to go to the petrol pump," he said.

In April the government approved a legal framework to allow people to convert their petrol and diesel vehicles into electric ones, known as "retrofitting".

But EV dealers told AFP they were struggling to meet demand.

"It is getting challenging to meet the demand," said Ritima Pandey, customer relations officer at Venture Motors.

"As the price of diesel has gone up, many people are coming to trade in fuel vehicles for EV vans."

Schools and colleges are also exploring electric fleet purchases, dealer Dinesh Raj Pandeya said, signalling a shift beyond individual commuters.

Energy expert Pokharel urged policymakers to build on the momentum by encouraging domestic EV manufacturing and assembly.

"This will give us a long-term solution," he said.

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